452 The Snow Mountain

"Incredible man?" Meng Qi turned all of a sudden, intentionally omitting the word 'maniac'. "Where does he live?"

Shangguan Heng answered in a provoking manner, "On the top of Snowy Jade Mountain. Do you dare to visit him?"

"Snowy Jade Mountain?" Meng Qi looked at Shangguan Heng with bright and sharp eyes, implying that he had little knowledge of the landform in North Zhou Dynasty. He didn't know what was so special about this mountain. Naturally, he couldn't make the decision to visit so rashly.

Seeing that his attempt to provoke Meng Qi had failed, Shangguan Heng explained bitterly, "The mountain is located north of Lulong. It's a lofty mountain covered in ice and snow all year long. Visitors are often forbidden to venture further into the mountain than halfway up. Moreover, there are no routes in most areas on the mountain, so we have to climb up the ice wall to reach the top. If you slip even a tiny bit, you'll fall from 10,000-feet and your body will never be found."

"How's that scary?" Meng Qi wasn't terrified of the situation on the mountain at all. With his current capabilities, frozen environments and climbing were no longer considered dangers to him.

Shangguan Heng snorted. "Snow monsters and ice snakes are often spotted on the mountain and their movements can easily cause an avalanche. Without the power of an Exterior master, how can you fight against the power of nature? Also, there are plenty of Snow Lotuses of different ages on the mountain. The higher you climb and the deeper you venture, the easier it is for you to find those that have been growing for thousands of years. Many skilled masters of Jianghu often visit the mountain in hope of obtaining such precious treasure. Human desire is boundless, hence conflicts and bloodshed are inevitable during their adventure."

"If you're lucky, your entire journey to the top of the mountain would be smooth sailing. If not, every step you take would be one full of danger, and you might end up buried in the snow. So, you dare to go up there?"

Instead of responding to the question, Meng Qi asked, "Is he truly pondering heaven and earth?"

Shangguan Heng was even more upset when he saw that none of his three questions had produced the reactions he had expected. He had no choice but to answer, "Of course he is. The seniors in my family once brought me along to meet him a couple of years ago. He was normal most of the time, and sometimes would be lost in thought, murmuring things like 'heaven and earth' and 'the truth' to himself."

Meng Qi nodded, indicating that he had made his decision to visit the mountain, but he still had one more question. "Since there are Snow Lotuses of thousands of ages on the mountain, why hasn't any mainstream martial arts sect or reputable aristocratic family occupied the mountain so that others can't visit so freely?"

As the legitimate son of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Heng knew the answer best. His mouth twitched. "They all have similar strength and power, hence different sects and families only occuping different areas that have lotuses themselves. Since the mountain runs on for thousands of miles, they don't have the manpower to manage the entire mountain either. That's unless they set the mountain as the foundation of their family or sect."

"Very well." Meng Qi smiled brightly. "But let's have our meals first!"

...

With a flash of knife energy, a gigantic monster covered with white fur fell heavily to the ground. Its dark blue blood stained the white snowfield.

Shangguan Heng stood aside, intently watching Meng Qi attack with his saber.

In his opinion, that snow monster wasn't strong and he could easily beat it himself when he had opened only six or seven acupores. Nonetheless, when Meng Qi had controlled the angle of the slash, strength, and speed of his attack just right, to the point that no other adjustment was needed. It was truly a marvelous sight, as if it was an unparalleled work of art.

The attack wasn't a miraculous move, but it was often through ordinary moves that one could recognize the height of bladesmanship a person had achieved.

Meng Qi poked the dead monster with his saber and muttered to himself, "Is it a demon, a devil, or a beast..."

Shangguan Heng gasped upon hearing Meng Qi, and thought to himself, "Besides thinking just about heaven and earth, is Meng Qi also into exploring different types of monsters?"

Just as the thought struck him, he heard Meng Qi ask another question.

"Is it edible?"

His tone was filled with bewilderment, as if he was contemplating a mystery that had been unsolved for centuries.

The corner of Shangguan Heng's mouth twitched involuntarily. He answered softly, "Its meat tastes sour."

He then started looking for dry branches and coal nearby.

Seeing that the snow monster was weak and small, Meng Qi believed there weren't many valuable materials he could reap from it. He decided not to waste space in his Space Ring and returned his saber to its sheath. When he noticed what Shangguan Heng was doing, he was puzzled. "Do we need to start a fire? Since both of us have opened all nine acupores and are able to release genuine Qi, surely the freezing weather at the top won't be a threat to us?"

Since it was his first time on the mountain, he posed his question with a sense of prudence. "Maybe the freezing weather at the top would add some special flavor to our adventure for some reason?"

"Prevention is always better than cure. We'd be fine under normal conditions but the weather up there could cost us our lives if we're severely injured." Shangguan Heng rarely had the chance to feel this proud in front of Meng Qi, so he continued speaking, "There would be no plants or coal above for sure."

Meng Qi dragged out his reply with an 'oh' and followed him to fill up one bag of coal as well. They then continued their journey along the slippery route. All they could see was an endless snowfield dotted with sparse bits of green and yellow. The only sound that accompanied them was the creaking sound they made stepping on the snow.

It was only early autumn, but it was already cold winter on the mountain.

After trekking for a long time, the route in front of them came to an end. Their only way forward was climbing the ice wall near them.

Covered in thick layers of snow, the ice wall was more than 300 meters high. Below it was the bottomless cliff. Those with a fear of heights would get cold feet simply looking at it, let alone climb it.

Meng Qi tied his saber to his waist even more tightly. He reached out for the ice wall with his right hand, glowing in dark gold, and penetrated the slippery hard layers, allowing him to grab the stone inside.

He started climbing steadily by alternating his hands and foot movements.

Instead of showing off his Lightness Skills or Body Movements, he chose the steadiest method to climb up.

After seeing Meng Qi's climbing technique, Shangguan Heng used his hands to crush the ice and climbed up as well, as if his hands were sharp claws.

During the climb, they turned to see that the area below them was enveloped by dense cloud and mist, with its end impossible to be seen. Having seen such a terrifying situation, Meng Qi believed without any doubt that even with the protection of Eight Nine Mysteries and Golden Bell Shield, a fall from this place would be fatal.

With a sense of ease and care, they climbed over one ice wall after another. Above them, the sky gradually turned dark.

"Aggressive monsters often come out at night. Let's find a place to rest until dawn after climbing over this ice wall," Shangguan Heng said. When he looked up, he found Meng Qi climbing ahead of him.

Meng Qi wasn't one to act recklessly, so he agreed to the suggestion. "Great!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was able to penetrate the howling storm, allowing Shangguan Heng to hear him clearly.

Shangguan Heng was about to speak again when his eyes became fixed onto a white python crawling out of a skull-size cave on the ice wall ahead.

Covered in scales as delicate as ice, its body was as wide as a bowl and its eyes as red as blood. When it flicked its tongue, an offensive and compelling aura was given off to warn intruders of the imminent danger.

"That's a Snow Python of at least 50 years old!" Shangguan Heng thought instantly.

This kind of python was born aggressive, with the power to control the ice and snow, so it was difficult for it to use the Shape Transformation technique.

Under normal circumstances, Shangguan Heng could easily kill a Snow Python that old without even using his full strength. Now, however, the situation had highly restrained his capabilities. Hanging mid-air without support, any misstep could lead to irrevokable mistakes that could cost his life!

The python seemed to have set Shangguan Heng as its target. As it slid down the ice wall, snowflakes started dancing in the air and froze into multiple sharp ice needles. Its tongue was as a blood crimson. When it approached Shangguan Heng, he could smell flesh and blood.

He suddenly put on a cruel expression. He stabilized his body with his feet and made multiple strikes with his hands, creating bursts of energy that flew directly toward the python with enough power to break metal.

The ice wall was penetrated but that python was cunning enough to dodge the bursts of energy by taking advantage of its surrounding environment. It then pounced on him with great momentum.

He broke through the ice wall with one hand and let go of his feet to make a half turn. With his body upside down, he reached out with his other hand to catch the python.

The python stopped moving all of a sudden and, like a master of whips, struck with his tail vigorously. Its attack created a loud blow in the air and long icicles were formed on its tail, shining with a bright, silvery light.

Facing such a fierce attack, Shangguan Heng wasn't afraid at all. He threw a punch and concentrated his genuine Qi into it like a giant hammer, which he used to strike the python's tail until it was disfigured, and the scales covering it had fallen off.

Just as he was about to chase after and attack the python again, he heard a terrifying cracking sound. The gaps in the nearby ice wall had resulted in a fatal collapse after the vibration caused by his attack!

With the collapse of the nearby wall, he lost his support on the current wall as well. He was about to fall down the cliff at any second.

At this moment, he saw knife energy flashing before his eyes and felt a gentle force supporting his back. It prompted him to involuntarily leap forward and position him close to the stone wall again.

Shangguan Heng finally stabilized his body again after exerting some force with his hands. When he turned around, he saw the python cut in half and falling. Meng Qi was holding his saber, with a light purple snake gallbladder on its tip.

What truly surprised him, however, was the fact that Meng Qi's limbs were all quite far from the ice wall. His body was suspended in mid-air!

"Did he sacrifice himself to save me?" Shangguan Heng was baffled.

Suddenly, He saw Meng Qi bouncing back to the ice wall from an angle that was impossible to leverage. His movements were light and swift. The sound of his robe flapping against the wind could be heard clearly.

"Great Lightness Skill..." Shangguan Heng commented subconsciously.

"Thank you." Meng Qi smiled without any intention of being humble about his capabilities. He put the gallbladder away and continued speed climbing.

Not far above, there was a Snow Lotus of about a hundred years old. A man of around 30 was preparing to take the lotus by fixing himself onto the ice wall with nails and ropes.

Their actions just now had caught his attention and he was in disbelief that Meng Qi, someone under the Exterior level, could have such astonishing skills!

He became more uptight and nervous when he saw them getting closer, thinking that they might be here to snatch the lotus from him. He tightened his grip on his sword and got ready to guard his treasure.

However, they climbed right past him without even sparing a glance in his direction and went into a relatively comfortable spot above him.

"These two must be crazy to come here and climb instead of looking for Snow Lotuses!" The man was completely taken aback.

When they reached a safer spot, they quickly found a windless area to light a fire and settled down opposite each other.

"Thanks a lot." Shangguan Heng forced out the words after a long while.

"You're welcome." Meng Qi smiled and started eating by the fire. After finishing his food, he gazed at the mountain range and starry sky and, soon enough, he was deep in thought.

Shangguan Heng didn't disturb him and started reviewing the mistakes he had made earlier.

As the night grew darker, they suddenly heard the sound of multiple footsteps. Judging by the irregular sound, it seemed that many people were hurrying over.

Shangguan Heng opened his eyes and stared coldly in the direction of the noise.

A man approached shortly after. His hair was messy and his clothes were stained with blood that was already frozen. It made him look even more wretched. After noticing the fire, the man glanced in their direction to find Shangguan Heng sitting upright and Meng Qi looking carefree and lost in thought.

Suddenly, an idea struck him and he threw something at Meng Qi.

The thing he threw at him was the Snow Lotus. It had fully developed seeds and petals with extremely clear textures, and its refreshing fragrance would catch one's attention before even touching it. Despite looking fully alive, there were a couple of petals and a few seeds missing. From the parts where the petals were broken, a clear and sticky juice was oozing out.

The man quickened his pace without even looking back after getting rid of the lotus. Just as the lotus fell into Meng Qi's hands, a group of people who were chasing after the man showed up.